Bone distractors are utilized in the field of orthodontics in connection with the repair and regeneration of craniofacial bones and in particular the mandible and maxilla. Typically, a bone is cut or fractured to create two separate segments which results in a space formed therebetween. Through the process of osteogenesis, the regeneration of bone occurs in the space between the two segments. The distance between the bone segments can be increased over time allowing additional new growth to occur.
One means of accomplishing distraction is to affix mounts, respectively, on the two bone segments. A drive screw is threadedly interconnected to one of the mounts and is affixed to the other mount whereby rotation of the drive screw causes separation of the bone segments. Typically, distractor drive screws are somewhat inflexible such that they are not able to bend to the degree desired in many applications and sometimes break when they are bent too far.